AshiePoo Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 How do I go about doing this? I assume melt it down adn bring to room temp...then mix in well? What are the pros and cons of doing this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angel91805 Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 In my opinion, don't waste your time. Just add the shea butter in with your other oils. Once it's all together, the lye will not discriminate. You can't tell the lye which oils to make into soap and which to not make into soap. Donna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaArial Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Opinions on this varies, some feel it won’t make a difference in the soap, that almost all of the saponification process occurs in the gel stage so saving any oil out to add at trace only increases the odds that you will forget to add it and waste the whole batch (lye heavy). I think it does make a difference so I do it. I melt the shea butter and allow it to cool slightly (leaving it in the warm pan set on top of the presto pot, which is still warm from melting my hard oils but turned off, like a double boiler. Don’t let it cool down so far it solidifies. It will thin the soap down when you add it, I add at medium trace and it drops it back to very light trace (or more depending on the temperature, the warmer the butter the thinner it gets) but after it’s completely incorporated it will start tracing again, again temperature seems to be the major factor in how fast. The warmer the butter the faster it will move (if the butter is hot you will have to move fast to get it in the mold). It is very important that you don’t let it cool to much though, if it is cooled enough to start becoming solid again it won’t want to incorporate and will want to form little “chunks” suspended in the soap. One particularly hectic day I had my oils melted and was getting ready to start my lye water when I was interrupted. When I returned the shea butter had cooled to the consistency of soft butter. I thought the heat from the soap was already generating would melt it back down; it didn’t. Which ever way you decide to go… good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshiePoo Posted September 17, 2007 Author Share Posted September 17, 2007 Would I add my fo and color before or after the butter? I do swirl a bit so having the butter colored doesn't matter to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scented Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 I just melt it all together. What would be the point of melting shea butter and bringing it back to room temp before adding? Wouldn't that just re-solidify it or am I missing something?Add your FO and color after. You could just add your FO to the oils before you add the lye water and then just mess with color afterwards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CareBear Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Would I add my fo and color before or after the butter? I do swirl a bit so having the butter colored doesn't matter to me.If you are determined to add it at trace you still need to mix it in well - the blend needs to be completely, well - blended. Doesn't matter in what order you add stuff as long as this is accomplished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandmaArial Posted September 17, 2007 Share Posted September 17, 2007 Would I add my fo and color before or after the butter? I do swirl a bit so having the butter colored doesn't matter to me.I'm confused by this... the butter will color... as Carebear says it MUST be compleatly incorportated into the soap. If it is not then the soap part of it will be lye heavy and not nice, as in burn your skin. You don't want it streaked through the soap like swirls. I don't use scents much... and so far when I have I just toss them in the pot with the soft oils. After it's compleatly mixed in you can swirl as normal. If your shea butter is hot it may speed up so just be ready to work fast. Getting the butter just above the melting point works best for me. When I use infussed oils and herbs I add the oils when I add the shea butter and I swirl with the herbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshiePoo Posted September 17, 2007 Author Share Posted September 17, 2007 Oh..I am such a dork! Duh! I wasn't thinking quite right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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